


What The Blue Bird Knew

by midnight_minutes



Category: BioShock, BioShock Infinite, Homestuck
Genre: 1920s, 1950s Slang, Alternate Universe - 1920s, Alternate Universe - 1950s, Alternate Universe - 1960s, Bioshock infinite - Freeform, Cyberpunk, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Humanstuck, Neo Noir, Science Fiction, Slang, Swing Dancing, a lil bit of racism, honestly you dont even have to read homestuck to read this, someone might die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-10 16:33:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6995950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnight_minutes/pseuds/midnight_minutes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a futuristic 1920s filled with oppression, prejudice, and a Tyrannical Empress of the world, a Young girl named Calina goes on a journey to find the truth about her past. But shes got a bounty on her head, for reasons she won't reveal to anyone, not even the hired gun who she hired to help her on this quest. why is she so special? She's  the remaining piece of a long, hidden away consperacy involving the queen and why really happens behind her closed doors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

The world is cruel, people knew that. It might be 1892, but most weren't accepted. Especially if your skin was darker, or your eyes were 'chinked', or even if you spoke another language originally. It died down of course since the dark times of the past, but it was still everywhere you looked, And you didn't have to look hard to see it. The world didn't have a president, it had an Empress.  
A long time ago, longer than people want to remember, a war had broken out over the assassination of a world leader, and it drove all countries into a global war. The people of that time had never seen so much death and carnage, and had gone from strong in numbers to weak and afraid. They called out to anyone who could stop the war and restore peace, and that is when She came along.  
Using and playing upon the fear of the people, as well as cash from her unknown sources, a rich woman named Meenah Pexies stepped to the light. With society and order all obliterated, she created and established a new world monarchy, calling herself The Empress.   
At first she led the people into prosperity through science and understanding, but soon demanded everyone's unquestioned loyalty and devotion, or she would send the world back into the chaos it once had witnessed before, with unending mercy. The people, enjoying the prosperity and still in fear of the past, agreed to her demands.  
Pexies became power drunk. With the population of the entire globe at her finger tips she began to make sure there could never be any uprising, or even a hint of disagreement about the way she ran things. She lied and hid new laws that forced the people into giving away their own right to privacy, and began to even change history itself.  
The Empress began with the indoctrination of the children. Slowly she sneaked propaganda into text books cheering and thanking her for saving all of mankind, and the people, like the sheep they were, feel right into her hands and in comfortable lies.  
She was cruel and vile, but those who noticed were too scared to fight back. No uproars, no horrible life induced by the Queen.   
But even The Empress knew that her mortality would be her undoing. Without an heir to her perfect regime; her womb itself barren and unable to reproduce, nor did she want to let go of her power, The Empress began looking for life extending alternatives.  
She hired a well known pair of physicists, twins Dr. John and Jake English. They were leading researchers into quantum physics and were in the brink of discovering how to travel across dimensions at will. She promised them that if they were to find a way to extend her life that their project would be over funded, and the twins willfully agreed to the deal.  
That was when the accident happened.  
While messing with a newer project of their own, both doctors had caused an accident that would affect many people in a 100 mile radius.Able to tear the fabric of one dimension to get to the next, also capable of having eternal life, or at least an extension on human lifespan, through crossing. The people in this accident were given this power, created in the cross dimensional experiment, when a part of the calculations with misread and caused a sonic blast within the 100 mile radius.

Once the Empress saw how useful this could be, she ordered everyone within the radius to report to the nearest laboratory (there was only one) for testing.   
Through a lot of difficult and humiliating tests that pushed the physical limits of the human body, the scientists discovered that the power was able to be transfered with the use of a machine called a Syphon, but it was a painful process and left the test subjects dead, as if ripping their soul away from their body and ending life immediately. All at the price of The Empress Eternal Youth.

Those who did survive were not better off, turned into mindless drones who had no individuality, or sense of communication and memories. Perfect mindless slaves, And were put to good use as one .

Dr. John English and Dr. Jake English were paid and forced to rip the powers from these innocent people. At first they thought it was bearable, the could ignore it as a casualty of the job. That is, until they saw a little girl, no older than 6, had to be terminated.

They could live with the regret of killing the adults ... But an innocent child? Never. Thus they planned her escape, back to her family. She are a frilly lilac dress and two ponytails, her skin soft and dark like chocolate milk with a mesmerizing pair of ultra violet eyes.

They wiped the young girl's memory of her powers and her records clean,the physicists took her back to her family in the dead of the night, warning them to be careful and to keep an eye on her very closely, telling them that she had gotten a fee shots and would he drowsy for a day of two.

Thankfully, The Empress was none the wiser of their plan, but it was only after the twins disappeared off the face of the earth, did she discover what they had done. Enraged, she quietly began the search for her last piece to eternal youth.

This search would go on for decades, until a string of events happened to take place.


	2. 1

Year: 1908-1923

There's an old speak easy tucked away in a dark street in Alternia, New York. The place was paced with every kind of people around, the bar filled with hazy smoke and the smell of musk with whiskey. The club was opened at midnight exactly, and A young man with his own rugged personality filed in for a drink or two. He was 22, a hired gun for pay, a private eye of sorts. He settled bets and agreements with his less than legal tactics, but it got the job done. He had been to this bar for quite some time and was known as a regular patron to it. The barkeep knew his name and some of the stories the hired man told, but that's all the conversation ever got to before the woman arrived on stage.

She was beautiful and elegant, standing at 5'9" with two inch heels, her make up was always done well, wearing a soft but bright shade of red lipstick of her plump lips with black eyeliner and purple eye shadow. Her eyes were an ultra violet, bright with mystery and promises of excitement. She wore a dress of black and purple that reached to her knees, a black sash tied into a bow at her side, the dress had the print of cherry blossoms trees on the fabric. She wore pearls and diamonds that shined in the stage light. Her flawless Caramel skin clearly marked her as an African American, and she was, but her mother was a Romanian immigrant and her father was African American. Her name was Royala Mérope, the singer at the Skaia bar.

This was the only place she could get a job that paid well enough to keep her clothed and fed with a home besides here in a seedy spot. She was a good girl who knew a lot of bad things, and attracted bad people as well. Her color made her non hirable at many places, so knowing she had a talent and an easy buck to make, Royala stayed there.

The first song she ever sang that caught his attention was La Vie En Rose, then Orange Colored Sky.  
The hired gun was stunned by the power in her voice and the smoothness of it. He tired to get to know her more a few weeks after just watching her preform, and she agreed to a date full-heartedly, soon falling in love with each other. Unfortunately having to keep their love a secret from the public eye, in fear of repercussions. But the man, saying his real name was Simon Captor, loved her so much he gave her a heart locket with their pictures inside, having one of his own as well, but just with her picture in it.

On the top it was engraved with a message : To my violet rose, you are my shining star.

One day the beauty was gone. Leaving the hired gunman with a broken heart and no explanation, he grew callused to the world, doing his bare minimum to get by in life. What he did not know, was her reason for leaving, and it plagued him for some time until he drank away his sorrows, forgetting her, which he never truly did. The man only grew numb about her memories. They grew to sting his heart with poison, and he even tried throwing away the locket, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

Every time he tried breaking it or throwing it in the trash, he seemed to get that innocent, bittersweet feeling. Hope. Hope is Violet Rose would one day come back to him. Simon felt grief as he squeezed the locket in his callused and rough hands, tears streaming down his face in agony of a broken heart.

Instead, he tossed it into his work drawer, never going to look at it again, so he would not be hurt any longer..

Royala was afraid he would run after finding out she was pregnant, not knowing if he wanted a baby girl to look after. So to save herself the pain, she left him first, raising the child on her own. She named her Calina, a beautiful combination of The man's personality and Her mother's charm and looks, even having the same piercing Ultra Violet eyes. Calina had wavy, soft, black mop hair that reached the base of her neck and Carmel skin just a tint lighter than her mother's. The girl was special, anyone could see it.

But it wouldn't take long to know of her ripping ability, which made Calina's mother hide her away from the world because of the stories her mother told her about The Empress and what happened to special cases like her daughter. Royala told her to use those powers in extreme danger only.

Calina grew up a poor but happy child. She never felt unloved, she was cared for until her mother had gotten sick. Something that was possibly terminal, Calina over heard the doctor say. At the time she didn't know what that meant, but she was a bright child and eventually, she realized her mother's time in this world was numbered.

She didn't cry. She just made sure she could spend every moment with her mother while homeschooling herself because she never wanted to leave her Mother's side.

By 14 years of age, Calina's mother had passed away due to heart cancer, but not before telling her of her father and how they met.

Before she passed away, Calina promised to find her Father and tell him the truth of why Royala left, taking the locket from her mother and keeping it around her neck, hidden under her shirt. She had been on a year search since then, returning to Alternia,New York to look for her father. The girl grew street smart while looking around, but always ended up getting picked on however.

She made money from her mother's secret life insurance, which kept her fed and clothed, but she made extra money on the side from gambling and card tricks, and like her mother, did some singing on the side.

One night, after playing a game of black jack with a bunch of white boys in a gang, Calina had gotten all of the money from each of them, and they were not pleased.

Which lead up to this moment. Her running down the street in a dark, navy blue camisole and a black and purple polka dot dress with tattered converse sneakers screaming for help as they hunted her down like a wild animal.


	3. 2

It was eleven O'Clock now, and the streets were deserted, but well lit. Neon signs and advertisements littered the skyline ahead as paper blew across the street. It was desolate but peaceful, and stayed that way for only a moments time before something happened. 

Past any human's sight line a girl, barely in her mid-teens with a black wavy mess of hair ran down the side walk, breathing heavily with a look of fear in her violet eyes. She was dressed in a dark, navy blue camisole and a black and purple polka dot dress. Her black and tattered converse sneakers splashed in puddles of dirty water as a cut on her caramel colored cheek bled slightly.    
She ran for her life as group of older boys chased her with metal pipes, shouting curse words, racial slurs, and threats of what they would do if they got their hands on her. 

The girl was much faster and farther ahead than them, thankfully, but how she managed to upset them was due to her stubborness,sarcasm and hot temper. She was a ruffian and a tough girl, but her mouth always got her into trouble like this. Not to mention her skin color, that's always an issue, has been her whole life. She looked for any buildings she could hide in or had someone inside to help her, and thankfully found an small wooden door to an office with the lights on.on the door's window was writing that said:

"Simon Captor

Investigations into matters both public & private"  

Hoping someone was inside she knocked calmly them more frantically, seeing as the door was locked from the outside and that gang of boys were getting awfully closer.   

"A little help here? Please!"  She cried.

On the inside, a drunken, but still sharp man in his mid 30s stumbled towards his door, his pistol always at his side. Simon heard the frantic knocking but thought it was just one of the stupid neighborhood kids playing late night dares to mess with the washed up hitman down the street. He put his pale hand Ind the door and opened it half way, a low growl in his voice from smoking And hard drinking coming through. He looked down to see a little black girl with fear in her voice and stature claim in to need help.

"Listen kid, if you don't get the fuck on out of here before I-" 

Simon didn't get to finish his words before the kid he knew as Tommy Jones of the Crazy 8 street gang grabbed the girl by her hair and pulled her back with one hand, using the other to pin her arms behind her back .

"Nice try you cheating black bitch, now cough up my cash or cough up your blood" He sneered and his boys stood behind him brandishing weapons to take turns.

"Let me go I didn't do anything! I won fair and square you assholes, let me go! Help me please sir!" Calina cried again, struggling against the taller, older, and more muscled boy. Simon cocked his gun and shoved it into Tommy's mouth in seconds. The boy gave a terrified look to the older drunken man and back to the gun for a quick moment that felt like eternity. 

"I told you kiddo. drop the little dame before i fill you with some daylight ." He growled gruffly. with that Tommy dropped the young girl and backed off. 

" why you protectin' a gal like this Mr. Captor? she ain't worth your time. She's just a dirty street rat" Tommy spat at at the ground, huffing and looking at Calina, who was breathing harshly from running and pure adrenaline but still able to shoot a death glare at the person who assulted her.

" I don't stand for punks like you who have fun hurtin' people who are smaller than them. Now get yourself out of my eye sight before i make my threat a promise," he growled. 

The kids ran off in a scrappy shuffle, muttering curses and oaths about catching the street rat if they ever found her again.

Calina turned the the man, apparently named Simon Captor, fixing her dress and hair to look him in the eyes. her violet purple eyes that Simon glared into that painfully reminded him of something he tried so hard to forget about. He spat to the side, looking the so called street rat up and down, wondering how such a small, mousy girl could run so fast and fight so tough.

" um, th-thank you Mr. Captor, for saving me back there, they would have cooked my goose and worse if you hadn't!" Calina chuckled, holding her hand out for a shake that went un-reciprocated. After a moment she dropped her hand and held both behind her back, peaking around him at the door that claimed he was a private investigator, and hired escort, possibly.

Simon un-cocked his gun and held it at his side, speaking. His breath smelled heavily of cigarettes and gin.  
"you're lucky I even opened the door kid. What were you thinking cheating those kids out of their money? did you have a death wish?" He growled at her like a concerned parent. Calina frowned a bit, ready to snap back and defend herself.

"Excuse you, but I got their money fair and square, they were cheatin' anyways!" she hissed with a small smirk. Simon tapped his foot impatiently, wanting the little girl to go away. He didnt even know what was keeping him here talking to her anyways. He guesses that he doesn't want to be too rude.

"What's your name kid?" He asks, looking at the holographic Rolex on his wrist. Its nearly 3 am. Not that he would notice, after downing that bottle of gin a few hours ago. God his head hurt like hell.

"Names Calina, Calina Mérope, Mr.Captor!" She said rocking back and forth on her heels . 

"Where do you live? Where are your parents? Do they let you stay out this late Mèrope?" Simon crossed his arms, ready to call the girls parents to take their trouble making daughter back home so he could be out of his hair.

Calina winced, rubbing the back of her head. She always hated when people asked about her parents.  
"Uh, you see, I don't have them. My ma died of cancer sometime ago... Running around on the streets is how I live sir" she said, sounding small and innocent.  
Calina kinda made money by placing bets and helping out the the mobs in the areas by bootlegging. A girls gotta make her bread too you know.

Simon gave a slightly surprised look, wondering how this kid even got around and made cash. Calina shoved her hands in her pockets and continued to softly rock on her heels, ready to run her little act.

"See mister, I usually have a place set up to stay the night, but because of tonights little incident I don't have anywhere to stay!"   
She gave a sigh, looking behind her and shivering at the cool spring breeze of the night. Cali then turned back, looking down at her feet, fidgeting and twisting her front left foot around and mumbling at a normal volume so he could hear her.

"Be an awful shame to just let a lil' ol' girl just go off and sleep on a park bench sir, especially after you saved her.." Calina spoke, lookin up at him with a pout.  
Simon didn't fall for her act of course. He'd been around enough grifters to know an act when it was going on.

"Inhm yeah right. Nice talking to you kid. Now go away." He gruffed, turning around and going back inside his apartment, shutting the door in the small teen's face.

Calina frowned, not taking that for an answer. She knocked on the door repeatedly, loudly whining like an Alley cat.

"Mr.Captor, come ooooon! Please? You can't leave the needy in the street! Especially a young, vulnerable girl with no defenses of her own!" 

Simon sat at his desk, the lamp on , and not too far from the door and listening to the girl and downing a shot of whisky. He still wasn't gonna open the door for her anyhow. Didn't mean he couldn't lists and smirk at her attempts.

"Pretty please! Come on sir! What do I gotta do to get you to open the door? I'll cut you a deal!" She cried.  
This made the hired guns ears perk up, setting his glass aside and making him walk back to the door without opening it.

"I'm listening toots, and keep your voice down, I don't want my neighbors to yell at me about not feeding the alley cats" he said casually, leaning against the door. Simon could hear Calina, and Calina could hear Simon through the paper thin door. 

"First I'll have you know that I am no alley cat or a toots, I have a name, its Calina, or Ms. Mérope to you Mister!" Calina huffed, crossing her arm and tapping her foot.

"Second, my deal must be discussed in the privates of your office and not in public where anyone can see and hear! I don't think that's possible with a door betwix us now do you?"

'For a young girl she sure has got a vocabulary...and a mouth on her...' Thought Simon with a grimace as he opened the door.

"Come on in Missy, what can I do you for?" He spoke sarcastically , welcoming her inside. Calina walked in with a cocky strut and smirking at him.

"Thank you. Now about that deal mister." She spoke as he closed the door.


End file.
